Thomas Ewens: Harvard indifference’ to Kristallnacht

In his excellent Nov. 9 column "Remembering, solemnly, the events of Kristallnacht in 1938," Matthew Schofield mentions the many Germans "who…stood by passively". They were not alone: many others also stood by passively, including some in this countr

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Posted Dec. 11, 2013 @ 11:14 am

In his excellent Nov. 9

column "Remembering, solemnly, the events of Kristallnacht in

1938," Matthew Schofield mentions the many Germans "who…stood by

passively". They were not alone: many others also stood by

passively, including some in this country.

The late Robert A.

Riesman, of Providence, was one of the most accomplished and

generous-spirited businessmen, philanthropists and political

activists of his generation. He was a Rhode Islander most of his

adult life. In the eulogy he delivered at Mr. Reisman's funeral

service, Rabbi Wayne Franklin of Temple Emanu-El in Providence

recounted the following story about Kristallnacht and its effect.

"It is no secret that Bob was a proud Harvard alumnus. He told me

more than once about how conscious he was of being a local Jewish

boy at Harvard in the '30s.

He spoke about it two years ago when

he and (his wife) Marcia were honored by Harvard Hillel. Bob was

thrilled with what Hillel — and Harvard —-- had become. In

responding to the tribute, Bob said that ‘To fully appreciate

Harvard Hillel, it's very helpful to have been a Jewish

undergraduate in the late 1930s, as I was. At the time, we did not

realize, as Jews, what a Jewish desert we inhabited until the

morning of No. 10, 1938. That was when we first heard from Germany

the news of Kristallnacht — the night of broken glass. That night,

and over the next two days, more than 1,000 synagogues were burned

in Germany, 7,000 Jewish-owned stores were trashed; the street were

littered with the glass from their shattered display windows. . . . One